Humanity
by Halia Stone
Summary: AU; Damon volunteers to be the one to keep an eye on Klaus trapped in the Gilbert's living room while everyone else goes off to Nova Scotia and that leads to Damon having a surprising insight into the complicity of Klaus Mikaelson.


**Not entirely sure where this came from exactly—and it's probably terrible—but enjoy and please review. I honestly appreciate every single one of them. :)**

**(And don't bother following this story, I won't be continuing it. Sounds harsh, but for some reason it drives me nuts whenever I get an alert seeing someone's followed a oneshot of mine. They're oneshots for a reason xD)**

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_Humanity — "The quality of being humane; benevolence."_

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The sight of Kol's burnt corpse splayed out in the kitchen was the first thing that greeted Damon as he walked into the Gilbert household, then Klaus just standing there in the living room, looking uncharacteristically dejected. A stark juxtaposition from the raving madman that had yelled threats at them all last night.

"Morning, sunshine," he greeted him, being rewarded with a glare that made Damon extremely grateful looks couldn't kill.

"And here I thought you would have been trapped in the Salvatore cellar until I could come and free you," Klaus remarked, raising his eyebrow.

"I drink vervain, remember?" Damon reminded him; it was a little ironic that it was only because of Klaus he had managed to escape. He had been the one that had handed him the bottle of vervain-laced water. For the first time since he had heard about them, the vervain filters had come in handy.

"Be that as it may," Klaus began, a low growl edging his voice, "Why the bloody hell are you here instead of cavorting about on the island to find the cure with the rest of your pathetic little friends?" he asked, looking inches away from hissing like an angry cat.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you after your temper tantrum last night," Damon said with raised eyebrows.

"Consider yourself lucky to be able to keep an eye on anything," the other man growled, "Because as soon as this little spell wears off, I will gouge your eyes right out of their sockets," he threatened, walking as close to him as the spelled barrier allowed him.

Then a sick, twisted smile crossed his face. "Or maybe I'll force you to watch as I tear Elena and her pathetic brother apart," he grinned wolfishly, "Limb by limb," he added, his eyes briefly flashing gold...

"They'll be back with the cure by then," Damon pointed out confidently, although he wavered a little at the sheer hatred in Klaus' voice; he hadn't even heard it back when he had gloated about disrupting his sacrifice, "Who's to say no-one will shove it down your throat and kill your mortal ass?" he asked, shooting Klaus a smirk.

"My bet's on Lockwood," he continued airily, giving it some serious thought, "Since you drowned his mother and all," he added with a shrug.

"I'm the most powerful creature in the world," Klaus declared, unabashed, "I'd tear you all apart before that cure came within spitting distance of me," he promised, and Damon didn't actually doubt that at all.

"Especially that pathetic little boy I unfortunately share a species with," he added distastefully, the corners of his mouth twitching in disgust, "As it is, all your days are numbered," he said with a thin smile, folding his arms.

"Consider it a payback for the cold-blooded murder of my brother," he growled.

"He came after them first!" Damon pointed out in disbelief.

"Kol wouldn't have even been inside this godforsaken house if your precious little Elena hadn't come up with the idea to set a trap for him!" Klaus yelled back, his voice bordering on a terrifying roar, "To kill him and his entire sire line so her darling little brother wouldn't have to forsake his humanity by becoming a cold-blooded vampire killer," he spat.

"All so she can regain her own," he mused, scoffing and lightly shaking his head, "If she finds her immortal existence so unappealing, I would be glad to put an end to it for her," he offered.

Then that angry gaze focused back on Damon again. "And then yours," Klaus said with relish, "for keeping me occupied and away from him while he was dying," he added.

"I had no idea what they were planning!" Damon cried, refusing to let himself be dragged into this mess, "How could I?! Your psycho brother compelled me to kill Jeremy so I was a little occupied," he pointed out, glaring back at Klaus as angrily as he dared.

"And if I remember rightly, no-one dragged you to the cellar to watch me," he continued, folding his arms with a knowing look.

Klaus scoffed again, rolling his eyes. "Well, then the irony of this situation must be positively hilarious for you," he muttered drolly.

"It would be if we didn't all have the impending threat of death over our heads," Damon muttered under his breath; whether it was from Klaus, or the whole thing with Silas that had Kol spooked enough to go after Bonnie and try to persuade Elena to abandon the search for the cure.

"Why didn't you go with the rest of them?" Klaus wondered, sounding genuinely curious even through the anger seeming to permanently lace his voice, "Did you want to flaunt your freedom in front of me?" he asked bitterly.

"My life doesn't revolve around you, don't flatter yourself," Damon warned him, pointing a finger at him; Klaus just raised his eyebrows. "I didn't go because I don't care about some lame-ass cure for vampirism or the old kook guarding it," he admitted, waving his hands up in exasperation.

He had said something similar to Elena when she had tried to convince him to leave for Nova Scotia with him that morning; the only reason he had been entertaining the idea of finding the cure in the first place was to make her happy, but he couldn't pretend he was because regardless of whether she took it or not, no scenario ended well for him.

"Because you think it will make Elena run back to your brother?" Klaus guessed knowingly.

"Why does everything have to be about Elena?" Damon asked defensively.

"Because we're talking about you?" Klaus pointed out, raising an eyebrow, "The latest in many she has spun round her little finger in such a Katherine Pierce-like fashion," he added with a slight smirk.

"She is nothing like Katherine," Damon said in disbelief.

"Isn't she?" Klaus asked him with a knowing look, but he didn't wait for him to respond on the subject, "But, I digress," he held his hands up in surrender, "That's a tale for another time; Katerina, Elijah and I," he said, sounding tired and drawn.

"I have no desire right now to think about any of those accursed Doppelgängers," he muttered in annoyance, "Two of which have caused me to lose a brother; one more literally than the other," he added, looking disgusted and infuriated.

"I'm sorry," Damon apologized.

"Liar," Klaus spat at him, not believing a word, "You'd sell your own brother for a dollar if Elena desperately needed a soda," he pointed out.

"Nah, he's more like fifty cents," Damon joked, but then he levelled Klaus with a look. "Either take my apology or don't," he said with a shrug, "I really don't care," he added; it was no skin off his back whether Klaus thought he was being sincere or not.

"Don't you dare look down your nose at me like you're any better than I am," Klaus growled, poking a finger towards him and momentarily forgetting there was a barrier between them as it didn't poke Damon in the chest, but stopped mid-air when he touched it, "You would be in a similar mind frame if you were in my position," he said, sounding sure.

"Your younger brother killed right before your eyes while you were powerless to help him," he continued through gritted teeth, for a split second looking utterly haunted before he managed to mask it with anger. It was then, for the first time since he had walked in, Damon saw him glancing at Kol's body.

"She didn't tell me about that…" he trailed off with a wince, feeling uncomfortable. He had been in a similar situation once, when Stefan was being tortured by the tomb vampires and he hadn't been able to rush in and tear their heads off like he had wanted.

"Yes, so forgive me for being the tiniest bit vengeful," Klaus said in a clipped voice, "Or don't, I really don't care," he said, folding his arms as he threw Damon's words right back at him.

"But mark my words, I will avenge my brother's death," he swore with such conviction Damon had to take drastic measures to not shudder, "As it is, I'll be surprised if Elena is still alive, what with my sister on the island with her," he added.

Then he huffed out a dry laugh as something no doubt crossed his mind. "Although, unfortunately for our dearly departed brother, Rebekah does tend to put her own selfish, five-second lasting whims ahead of her own family," he said, folding his arms.

"Human Rebekah," Damon mused, nodding slowly; nope, he still couldn't picture it, "Don't think I could imagine her without fangs," he admitted.

"Or any of you, really," he added, giving Klaus a look.

"At least I would still have my werewolf side and wouldn't be stuck as a pathetic human," Klaus reminded him, Damon choosing not to remind him that regular werewolves still had to forcibly turn every full moon.

"What about you?" Klaus wondered, "How would the great Damon Salvatore function as a human?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why do you care?" Damon asked, frowning a little.

"I don't, really," he admitted bluntly, "But humor me," he asked, sounding half-way between a plea and a demand.

"I'm stuck here with nothing but that incessant grandfather clock ticking away," he said, indicating the clock with a wave of his hand, "That witch could have at least left me able to reach the remote to the television set," he added bitterly.

Damon took a moment to think about it; even as a human he had been surrounded by blood and violence, so the only thing that would be a drastic change would be the lack of fangs, vampire abilities, an alcohol tolerance and the fact he wouldn't be an eternal stud any longer.

"I probably wouldn't do well at all," he guessed, although he wasn't too keen on finding out, "Not with the amount I drink, anyway," he added, chuckling to himself; he could've sworn he saw the corner of Klaus' lips twitch.

"And the whole silver fox thing _sounds _entertaining, but..." he trailed off with a grimace; gray was only for shirts and jackets, not hair. Especially not his. "But if it's what the others want, what do I care?" he said with a shrug, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Don't you at least care about Elena?" Klaus asked with a frown.

"I lose either way, Klaus," Damon admitted honestly, "Either she stays miserable as a vampire forever, or even if the cure doesn't change her feelings for me, I lose her when she grows old and dies," he said; neither option sounded appealing, yet one was going to become his life soon if they actually got that cure.

"People like me never win; never get the girl and always second best," he remarked, ignoring the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach as he thought about it. Was there actually _anyone_ in his life that had chosen him first?

"How poetic," Klaus snorted, but he was actually smiling.

"Screw you," Damon said without any bite. Then he huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. "I honestly can't think of anything worse than being human," he admitted morosely; it had long ago been his biggest secret that he missed it, but that had been before his narrow brush with death with a wolf-bite. It had made him value his immortality a lot more, among other things.

"Your sister truly is a moron for wanting to give that up," he said bluntly; he would've sold his soul to be able to be virtually unkillable and much stronger than any other vampire. Not to mention the ability to compel other vampires, that definitely could've came in handy with Stefan on a few occasions.

"What about your brother?" Klaus wondered.

"Like I said, I lose either way if this cure is found," Damon repeated, "I either have to watch human Stefan and Elena falling in love, or lose them both eventually, even if Elena stays with me," he explained with a heavy sigh.

Despite his promise of an eternity of misery, he couldn't really be without his brother. That was why he always came back eventually, 'haunting him' as Stefan put it once. Because he _could_, because Stefan was still alive. The thought of him one day not being there worried him.

"I can't even fathom how you're feeling right now," he said, his voice thick with emotion as he dared picture Stefan in Kol's place—he couldn't for long as he felt a lump forming in his throat. "I really am sorry," he insisted.

There was a moment where Damon could clearly see whether Klaus was weighing up what to say to him, looking caught off-guard at the sincerity in his voice. He eventually swallowed, looking up at him with the anger in his eyes very much sobered.

"Thank you," he said quietly, looking strangely humbled, "Could you…" he trailed off, swallowing and sounding unsure of where this was going.

"Could you move him, please?" he asked eventually, looking uncomfortably, "I've had to stare at his corpse all night," he said, casting a forlorn glance in Kol's direction.

Wordlessly, Damon moved over to the kitchen to do so. There wasn't anything large enough he could cover the corpse with, so he had to just grab his ankles and move him out of Klaus' eyeline behind the island. He winced quietly as he thought about Kol's last moments in agony; if everything went to hell in a hand basket, he suspected his ghost would be the first to say, 'I told you so'.

"I should have left quicker when he was in trouble," Klaus said regrettably as Damon walked back over to him, "I might have saved him," he said, sounding haunted.

"You couldn't get in the house," Damon pointed out. For as powerful as he was, Klaus couldn't break past a convention of being a vampire, even as a hybrid.

"A pitiful excuse," Klaus spat, folding his arms. "Should've daggered him when I had the chance," he remarked, sounding angrier with himself than anyone else.

"You can't carry them around in boxes forever," Damon said knowingly, "I'm pretty sure that must raise some eyebrows at customs, anyway," he added, attempting to add some levity.

"At least they were all still alive," Klaus said with a stony expression, "Metaphorically speaking," he added, correcting himself.

"Now I've lost two brothers and my remaining one won't even show his face because he despises me," he continued, shaking his head with a bitter laugh, "and my sister wants to escape me so much she is willing to become a human," he muttered dejectedly.

"You're a controlling douche," Damon said bluntly, smirking at him, "Part of your charm," he chuckled.

He could see Klaus was trying not to smile at him. He then frowned. "Are you going to sit down?" he asked, gesturing to the sofas beside him, "I'm getting exhausted looking at you," he said, sitting down on one himself.

"I don't trust you," Damon admitted; if he went inside the barrier there was no telling what Klaus could do to him; at least out here it was safe if Klaus' subdued mood took a turn for the worst.

"So, you shouldn't," Klaus said with a dangerous look on his face.

Damon rolled his eyes, deciding to fetch Klaus a blood bag. It was the least he could do since he would be trapped for a few more days and he knew the feeling of being starved all-too well. It was just lucky he had managed to convince Elena to keep a few in the fridge.

He picked one out and grabbed a glass—Klaus was a lot of things, but he wasn't a manner less savage—heading back over and briefly broaching the barrier to put them on the small coffee table opposite Klaus.

Then he decided to sit down on the sofa; some company was the least he could offer anyway. He noticed Klaus was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, obviously choosing not to comment on the fact he had chosen the couch closest to the edge of the barrier.

"So, with all this soul-searching on the way to finding the cure," Damon began, putting his feet up on the couch arm to at least _look_ like he was comfortable, "Have you ever thought about being a human?" he wondered. Klaus was the most powerful supernatural being in existence and even he had proved to be fallible on occasion.

"Those few days after my siblings and I transformed," Klaus admitted, squeezing some blood into the glass and picking it up, "I'd triggered my werewolf curse when I made my first kill as a vampire and I was in a constant state of agony until my mother placed the curse on me," he explained, completely draining the glass of what he had just put in it.

"All I could think about was ending it," he continued in remembrance, "But I couldn't die; no regular tree branch could kill me, and we'd burned the white oak tree to the ground the minute we found out it could kill us," he mused.

"Or so we'd thought back then," he added with a bitter undertone; Damon briefly averted his eyes.

"Even fire couldn't put an end to my suffering," he added as an afterthought, shrugging as he set about refilling the glass with blood.

"I'll give the stake to you," Damon decided then and there, "When they get back, obviously," he added; it hadn't been in Kol's chest so Jeremy or Elena had obviously taken it with them. Maybe an insurance policy because Rebekah was going with them.

Klaus paused, glass half-way to his mouth. "Why?" he asked in confusion.

"You can destroy it," Damon said as if it was obvious, "Save the rest of your family," he added, well aware that he was making sure the Mikaelson's of all vampires could no longer be killed by anything other than exceptional magic.

"No, I mean…" he trailed off, looking more confused, "Why would you do that?" he wondered.

It would land him in hot water with Elena and Stefan, but to be honest he didn't care. Both of them could understand the pain of losing a loved one, and that stake had taken too much from Klaus already; even if he could be a complete bastard, it wasn't fair he should lose any more family.

"Because I don't really care all that much about killing you anymore, if I'm being honest," Damon admitted after a brief pause, shrugging to himself, "The only reason I did before was because I was going along with my brother's stupid revenge trip," he added.

"Who would have thought that stripping someone of their humanity and making them your mindless slave would make someone want to kill you?" he mused sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"It all comes down to a pathetic reasoning, really," Klaus said with a shrug, drinking some of the blood he had poured.

"I don't want to be alone," he said, sounding like it was the first time he had ever said it out loud; admitted it to himself, "I'm thankful I have other perks of immortality, so I can at least be alone in an extravagant mansion, rather than on the streets begging people for money and struggling to stay alive," he continued, looking mildly horrified at the idea.

"And you thought my brother would help?" Damon asked incredulously, "My bunny-loving brother with a stick up his ass?" he continued, raising his eyebrow with a chuckle.

"Told you I'd be more fun," he said proudly; Klaus just raised an eyebrow.

"And when that failed I turned to…?" he trailed off, gesturing to Damon to figure it out.

"Your hybrids," he realized slowly; explained why he was so insistent on having a lot.

Klaus nodded. "But now they're dead with no means to create more and I don't even have my siblings to rely on," he said glumly.

"Have you tried therapy?" Damon wondered airily, "You Mikaelson's could really use it," he chuckled.

"I don't think any amount of therapy can fix us," Klaus remarked stonily, finishing the last of the blood in the glass. He then set about pouring some more.

"Well look on the plus side," Damon started, Klaus looking at him expectantly, "When the spell wears off, you can turn tail from Mystic Falls and go back to being the feared dick with an entire army of witches and vampires," he said with a smile.

"Whatever happened to that guy, anyway?" he genuinely wondered, "Rose said not even two hundred people knew what you even looked like," he said in remembrance.

"And now everyone and their grandmother has your damned phone number," he added, himself included in that group. The only person probably excluded was Katherine.

Damon watched the expression on Klaus' face break up and crack as he started to laugh; genuinely laugh at the idea.

"Now this is a rare sight," he remarked, "Klaus Mikaelson laughing," he marveled with a smile, leaning back on the sofa.

Eventually, Klaus sobered. "I won't promise not to seek vengeance, Damon—Elena and Jeremy killed my brother—but you have my word you won't come to any harm," he promised.

"Or Stefan," he added sincerely, "So long as you both stay out of my way," he finished with a smirk.

Damon scoffed. "You know we won't," he said with a heavy sigh, especially not if his revenge was going to be against a human Elena who would barely be able to defend herself anymore. But he could understand the feeling; revenge was all he had wanted against Stefan for decades after he manipulated him into completing the transformation, knowing full-well he hadn't wanted to survive without Katherine.

"I'd expect nothing less," Klaus said, nonplussed.

Damon then stood up, about ready to get out of there. He'd had enough soul-searching for a day. "Y'know," he began conversationally, walking through the barrier and towards the front door, "I'm pretty sure this spell is only trapping the vampire part of you," he remarked.

And he left without another word or even a backward glance towards Klaus, not even bothering to lock the front door behind him.

When Damon arrived the next morning, he wasn't the least bit surprised to find the front door hanging off its hinges and Klaus' clothes scattered in shredded tatters inside the confines of the barrier. He decided he would turn a blind eye for now, considering everyone on Klaus' shit list was currently on an island in Canada and even he must have needed a few days to recuperate.

(Well, except Tyler and Caroline, but what did he care about that mangy mutt anyhow? Stupid kid almost killed him once and Barbie was an annoyance on a good day)

He also noticed Kol's body was gone from where he had dragged it behind the kitchen island. Again, no big surprise there, he was probably going to bury him or give him a Viking funeral, or whatever it was Klaus did with deceased people he cared about.

But what did surprise him was the folded piece of paper laying on the sofa labelled '_Damon_' in Klaus' cursive handwriting. He picked it up and inspected it, something unfamiliar churning inside his gut as he burned the words into his mind;

_Thank you for yesterday, Damon._

_Klaus._


End file.
